Media & Public Relations

Chabad to welcome Torah Scroll

2005-11-03

The Chabad House Jewish Student Center at Binghamton University will celebrate the completion of a new Torah Scroll with music, dancing, a parade and festive meals. Activities will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 6, as people watch a scribe write the final passages on traditional parchment in the former mini-mall in the University Union.

The Torah Scroll is Judaism most venerated and sacred artifact. The scroll must be hand written on parchment by a trained ritual scribe in a traditional script that dates back thousands of years. Completing a Torah Scroll is a painstaking process that can take years to finish, with the last few lines written in a joyous public ceremony. The Torah to be completed on November 6 will be used at Chabad House as part of daily, Sabbath and Holiday services.

“Taking part in this kind of ceremony is considered a once in a lifetime event and opportunity,” said Rabbi Slonim, director of Chabad House. “To be present at the completion of a new Torah Scroll is to witness a birth – the Torah is the binding force, the soul of the Jewish people.”

A brunch will follow the completion ceremony, and then the Torah will be paraded to the Chabad House at 420 Murray Hill Road in Vestal. There, the scroll will be welcomed with ceremonial dancing and liturgical singing. A dinner will conclude the festivities.

The Chabad House Jewish Student Center ministers to the educational, religious and social needs of the Jewish community at Binghamton University.

To make a reservation to participate or for more information, call Chabad at 607-797-0015.